An article entitled "Fabrication of Novel Three-Dimensional Microstructures by the Anisotropic Etching of (100) and (110) Silicon", by E. Bassous, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Vol. ED-25, No. 10, October 1978, pages 1178-85 teaches the use of anisotropic etching of single crystal silicon to make ink jet nozzles, optical waveguides, multisocket miniature electrical connector and electromechanical devices.
U.S. Pats. 4,157,935 issued to Solyst and 4,455,192 issued to Tamai teach methods of forming an ink jet nozzle array by chemical etching of a silicon wafer.
It is also known to fabricate conventional metal fluid metering valves such as those using matched fittings of very precisely machined metal components. Typical tolerances of the lapped machine parts are in the millionths of inches. This is a complicated, labor-intensive, time-consuming manufacturing process yielding components which are expensive and subject to reliability problems as the internal tolerances change due to wear and exposure to fuel and fuel contaminants. It would be desirable to fabricate fuel injectors and other valves with substantially less labor and time using a significantly less complicated manufacturing process. That is, superior tolerances are desirable as is an insensitivity to fuel contaminants and improved reliability. These are some of the problems this invention overcomes.